Law Enforcement Commission Accreditation

The Accreditation Process is an on going and changing process to better enhance the way the police department sets its goals and objectives. The benefits to the community where the Agency is accredited are as follows:

•  Accreditation increases the law enforcement agency’s ability to prevent and control crime through more effective and efficient delivery of law enforcement services to the community it serves.
• Accreditation enhances community understanding of the law enforcement agency and its role in the community as well as its goals and objectives. Citizen confidence in the policies and practices of the agency is increased. 
• Accreditation, in conjunction with the philosophy of community policing, commits the agency to a broad range of programs (such as crime prevention) that directly benefit the public.
• Accreditation creates a forum in which police and citizens work together to control and prevent crime. 

This partnership will help citizens to understand the challenges that confront law enforcement. Law enforcement will, in turn, receive clear direction from the community about its expectations. Thus, a common set of goals and objectives will be arrived at and implemented.

Benefits

The benefits include the following:

• Increases cooperation and coordination with other law enforcement agencies and other branches of the criminal justice system.
• The accreditation process requires an in-depth review of every aspect of the agency’s organization, management, operations, and administration to include:
• Establishment of agency goals and objectives with provisions for periodic updating;
• Re-evaluation of whether agency resources are being used in accordance with agency goals, objectives, and mission;
• Re-evaluation of agency policies and procedures, especially as documented in the agency’s written directive system; Correction of internal deficiencies and inefficiencies before they become public problems.

Standards

The accreditation standards provide norms against which agency performance can be measured and monitored over time. 

• Accreditation provides the agency with a continuous flow of Commission distributed information about exemplary policies, procedures, and projects. 
• Accreditation provides objective measures to justify decisions related to budget requests and personnel policies. 
• Accreditation serves as a yardstick to measure the effectiveness of the agency’s programs and services. The services provided are defined, and uniformity of service is assured. 
• Accreditation streamlines operations, providing more consistency and more effective deployment of agency manpower.